Live Ultralight Podcast | Backpacking, Travel, and Adventure · Outdoor Vitals

EP 184 - Ask OV 3: Cook Systems, Workouts, & Women's Apparel

·36 min·2 clips

For a 50-mile weekend hike, one host would not change his year-round training routine.

This Ask OV session follows the show's monthly format. John and Brigham open by framing the point of the series as direct questions from listeners getting answered by people on the team who spend a lot of time testing gear in the field. The conversation starts with a little catch-up. John talks about heading into the Grand Canyon for a packrafting trip on the Colorado. Brigham notes the mileage he has been putting in while getting ready for the team's upcoming R6 attempt. From there, the episode settles into listener questions. Cook systems and training timing come up alongside other gear questions, so the episode keeps circling back to both equipment choices and the body behind them. They explain why a gas canister stove still makes sense in areas with fire restrictions. John says he is usually fine being a few minutes behind the rest of the team when it comes time to cook. He would rather get water moving faster and treat the delay as a small inconvenience than chase every last gram. Brigham says he has used the Crux Light and has been pretty happy with it. He also points out that there are plenty of other options, including lighter or more rugged ones. The discussion leaves room for future testing and the possibility that the show could expand what it covers in that category. Another listener asks about workouts and how soon before a hike it makes sense to slow down or stop gym training. John answers by saying that for a 50-mile weekend hike he would not change his routine at all. He says he would not worry if the day before happened to be a run, a hike, or a gym session. The bigger point is that training decisions depend on the person, the trip, and where they are in their fitness. For a week-long hundred-mile outing, the episode treats the question as more variable and personal. It ends by staying focused on simple use cases, real trail conditions, and the idea that practical decisions beat abstract rules.

As heard by us

A practical Q&A on stove choice, training timing, and the trade-offs behind simple gear decisions.

This Ask OV installment delivers a straightforward Q&A from the Live Ultralight Podcast powered by Outdoor Vitals, built around the questions the team says it keeps getting.

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Why you'd press play

Cook systems and training, handled like a real trail-side Q&A.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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